Future plans for Penn Station include adding railway platforms at the station's south end to accommodate two proposed Gateway Program tunnels. Plans also call for adding entrances and concourses to the adjacent James A. Farley Building. The Farley Post Office was built as a companion to the 1910 station. Moynihan Train Hall, part of the Empire Station Complex, will add new concourses for the LIRR and Amtrak within the Farley Post Office building and is being built in phases.[9]

Until the early 20th century, the PRR's rail network terminated on the western side of the Hudson River (once known locally as the North River) at Exchange Place in Jersey City, New Jersey. Manhattan-bound passengers boarded ferries to cross the Hudson River for the final stretch of their journey.[10] The rival New York Central Railroad's line ran down Manhattan from the north under Park Avenue and terminated at Grand Central Depot (later Grand Central Station, now Terminal) at 42nd Street.[11] Many proposals for a cross-Hudson connection were advanced in the late 19th century, but financial panics in the 1870s and 1890s scared off potential investors. In any event, none of the proposals advanced during this time were considered feasible.[12]

An early proposal for a bridge was considered but rejected.[13][14] The alternative was to tunnel under the river, but this was infeasible for steam locomotive use.[15] The development of the electric locomotive at the turn of the 20th century made a tunnel feasible. In 1901, PRR president Alexander Cassatt announced the railroad's plan to enter New York City by tunneling under the Hudson and building a grand station on the West Side of Manhattan south of 34th Street.[16] The station would sit in Manhattan's Tenderloin district, a historical red-light district known for its corruption and prostitution.[17]

Beginning in June 1903, the two single-track North River Tunnels were bored from the west under the Hudson River.[18] A second set of four single-track tunnels, the East River Tunnels, were bored from the east under the East River, linking the new station to Queens, the PRR-owned Long Island Rail Road, and Sunnyside Yard in Queens, where trains would be maintained and assembled.[19] Construction was completed on the Hudson River tunnels on October 9, 1906,[20] and on the East River tunnels on March 18, 1908.[21]

A small portion of Penn Station was opened on September 8, 1910, in conjunction with the opening of the East River Tunnels. As a result, LIRR riders gained direct railroad service to Manhattan.[22] On November 27, 1910, Penn Station was fully opened to the public.[23] With the station's full opening, the PRR became the only railroad to enter New York City from the south.[24]

During half a century of operation by the Pennsylvania Railroad (1910–1963), scores of intercity passenger trains arrived and departed daily to Chicago and St. Louis on “Pennsy” rails and beyond on connecting railroads to Miami and the west. Along with Long Island Rail Road trains, Penn Station saw trains of the New Haven and the Lehigh Valley Railroads. A side effect of the tunneling project was to open the city up to the suburbs, and within 10 years of opening, two-thirds of the daily passengers coming through Penn Station were commuters.[17] The station put the Pennsylvania Railroad at comparative advantage to its competitors offering direct service from Manhattan to the west and south. Other railroads began their routes at terminals in Weehawken, Hoboken, Pavonia and Communipaw which required passengers from New York City to use ferries or the interstate Hudson Tubes to traverse the Hudson River before boarding their trains. By 1945, at its peak, more than 100 million passengers a year traveled through Penn Station.[17]

By the late 1950s, intercity rail passenger volumes had declined dramatically with the coming of the Jet Age and the Interstate Highway System. Even before then, the station's exterior had become somewhat grimy. Due to its vast scale, the station was very expensive to maintain.[25][26] A renovation around this time covered some of the grand columns with plastic and blocked off the spacious central hallway with a new ticket office. The Pennsylvania Railroad optioned the air rights of Penn Station in the 1950s. The option called for the demolition of the head house and train shed, to be replaced by an office complex and a new sports complex, while the tracks of the station would remain untouched.[27] Plans for the new Penn Plaza and Madison Square Garden were announced in 1962. In exchange for the air rights to Penn Station, a new, smaller underground station would be built at no cost, and the Pennsylvania Railroad would receive a 25 percent stake in the new Madison Square Garden Complex. Modern architects rushed to save the ornate building, but to no avail.[28] Demolition of the above-ground head house began in October 1963.[29] A giant steel deck was placed over the tracks and platforms to allow rail service to continue with only minor disruptions; photographs of the day showed passengers waiting for trains even as the head house was demolished around them.[25] This was possible because most of the rail infrastructure, including the waiting room, concourses, and boarding platforms was below street level.[30]

The demolition of the Penn Station head house was controversial and caused outrage internationally.[31][32] "One entered the city like a God," the architectural historian Vincent Scully famously wrote of the original station. "One scuttles in now like a rat."[33] The controversy over the demolition of such a well-known landmark, and its deplored replacement,[34] is often cited as a catalyst for the architectural preservation movement in the United States.[8] New laws were passed to restrict such demolition. Within the decade, Grand Central Terminal was protected under the city's new landmarks preservation act, a protection upheld by the courts in 1978 after a challenge by Grand Central's owner, Penn Central.[35]

The current Penn Station is completely underground, and sits below Madison Square Garden, 33rd Street, and Two Penn Plaza. The station has three levels: concourses on the upper two levels and train platforms on the lowest. The two levels of concourses, while original to the 1910 station, were extensively renovated during the construction of Madison Square Garden, and expanded in subsequent decades. The tracks and platforms are also largely original, except for some work connecting the station to the West Side Rail Yard and the Amtrak Empire Corridor serving Albany and Buffalo, New York.[36][37]

In 1991, the opening of the Empire Connection allowed Amtrak to consolidate all of its New York City trains at Penn Station. Previously, all trains traveling along the Empire Corridor originated and terminated at nearby Grand Central Terminal–a legacy of most of those routes previously being part of the New York Central Railroad. Previously, passengers transferring between Northeast Corridor and Empire Corridor routes had to make their own way between the two stations. The two stations have never been connected, even after they both came under ownership of Penn Central in the 1960s and after Amtrak took over all intercity service in 1971. The move also spared Amtrak the expense of maintaining two New York stations, as well as having to pay the MTA over $600,000 per year to use Grand Central's trackage.[38][39]

In the 1990s, the current Pennsylvania Station was renovated by Amtrak, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, and New Jersey Transit, to improve the appearance of the waiting and concession areas, sharpen the station information systems (audio and visual) and remove much of the grime. Recalling the erstwhile grandeur of the bygone Penn Station, an old four-sided clock from the original depot was installed at the 34th Street Long Island Rail Road entrance. The walkway from that entrance's escalator also has a mural depicting elements of the old Penn Station's architecture.

There is an abandoned underground passageway from Penn Station to the nearby 34th Street–Herald Square subway station, which was known as "Gimbels Passageway." After decades of safety concerns, it was closed in the 1990s.[7]

After the September 11 attacks in 2001, security was increased and passenger flow through the Penn Station complex was curtailed. In 2002, work began on a $100 million improvement to add security features inside Penn Station, such as lighting, security cameras, and barricades.[40] The taxiway under Madison Square Garden, which ran from 31st Street north to 33rd Street halfway between 7th and 8th Avenues, was closed off with concrete Jersey barriers. A covered walkway from the taxiway was constructed to guide arriving passengers to a new taxi-stand on 31st Street. In addition, the direct connection escalators from Penn Station to the lobby of Madison Square Garden were closed and later removed.

Despite the improvements, Penn Station continues to be criticized as a low-ceilinged "catacomb" lacking charm, especially when compared to the much larger and more ornate Grand Central Terminal.[31] The New York Times, in a November 2007 editorial supporting development of an enlarged railroad terminal, said that "Amtrak's beleaguered customers...now scurry through underground rooms bereft of light or character."[41]Times transit reporter Michael M. Grynbaum later called Penn Station "the ugly stepchild of the city’s two great rail terminals."[26]Times architecture critic Michael Kimmelman wrote that while downsizing Penn Station and moving it entirely underground may have made a modicum of sense at the time, in hindsight it was a sign that New York was "disdainful of its gloried architectural past." Kimmelman also argued that the remodeling resulted in a station that was no longer commensurate with its status as the main rail gateway to New York.[25]

Diagram of intercity and commuter rail services around New York City, showing Penn Station and Grand Central Terminal

The station is served by 1,300 arrivals and departures per day, twice the number during the 1970s.[42] There are more than 600,000 commuter rail and Amtrak passengers who use the station on an average weekday,[43][44] or up to one thousand every ninety seconds.[26][45]:498, 891 It is the busiest passenger transportation facility in the United States[46] and in North America.[45]:890-891

Connections are also available to the PATH system at 33rd Street station, under Sixth Avenue on Herald Square. The JSQ-33 and HOB-33 services terminate at 33rd Street on weekdays, and are combined into the JSQ-33 (via HOB) service on late nights, weekends and holidays.

Tripper Bus is a private company that runs buses from a stop near Penn Station (31st Street between 8th & 9th Avenue) to Bethesda Station, Bethesda, Maryland; and Rosslyn Station, Arlington, Virginia.[50]

Go Buses is a private company that runs buses from a stop near Penn Station (31st Street between 8th & 9th Avenue) to Riverside Station, Newton, Massachusetts, and Alewife Station, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Penn Station does not have a unified design or floor plan but rather is divided into separate Amtrak, Long Island Rail Road and New Jersey Transit concourses with each concourse maintained and styled differently by its respective operator.[54] Amtrak and NJ Transit concourses are located on the first level below the street-level while the Long Island Rail Road concourse is two levels below street-level. The NJ Transit concourse near Seventh Avenue is the newest and opened in 2002 out of existing retail and Amtrak office space.[55][56] A new entrance to this concourse from West 31st Street opened in September 2009.[57] Previously, NJ Transit shared space with the Amtrak concourse. The main LIRR concourse runs below West 33rd Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues. Significant renovations were made to this concourse over a three-year period ending in 1994, including the addition of a new entry pavilion on 34th Street.[58] The LIRR's West End Concourse, west of Eighth Avenue, opened in 1986.[59] The station is so complex that in December 2017, Amtrak and Zyter released a mobile app called FindYourWay to help commuters navigate around Penn Station, though Zyter also plans to roll out the app at other large Amtrak stations.[60]

As further evidence of its complexity, the station's three providers use different official addresses for the station.

Amtrak: 8th Avenue and West 31st Street

LIRR: 34th Street at 7th and 8th Avenues

NJ Transit: 390 7th Avenue

In normal operations, tracks 1–12 are used by both Amtrak and NJ Transit trains and the LIRR has the exclusive use of tracks 17–21 on the north side of the station. All three railroads share tracks 13–16.

Normally, Amtrak and NJT share tracks 1–12, the LIRR uses tracks 17–21 exclusively, and all three railroads share tracks 13–16.[63][64] Tracks 1–4 end at bumper blocks at the eastern end of the platform and have no access to the East River Tunnels. From the east, the East River Tunnels' lines 1 and 2 (the more southerly tubes) can only access tracks 5–17 and are used by most Amtrak and NJ Transit trains, while the East River Tunnels' lines 3 and 4 (the more northerly tubes) can only access tracks 14–21 and are mostly used by LIRR. From the west, the North River Tunnels can access tracks 1–19, while the Empire Connection can only access tracks 1–9 and the LIRR's West Side Yard can only access tracks 10–21.[62]

Since the early 2010s, Amtrak had planned to fix the deteriorating rails and infrastructure around Penn Station, but due to the prioritization of other projects, applied only minimal fixes.[68] In early 2017, this culminated in numerous power outages, derailments, and delays due to track maintenance delays. There were frequent service disruptions to train schedules caused by the deterioration of its tracks and their supporting infrastructure, as well as in those of the East River and North River tunnels that respectively connect the station to Long Island and New Jersey.[69]

A string of early 2017 service disruptions started on March 23, 2017, when an Acela train derailed, causing delays for the day.[70] On April 3, a NJ Transit train derailed at a known problem site, where repairs had been deferred.[69] This caused four days of reduced service along the Northeast Corridor for both Amtrak and NJ Transit, because the incident damaged the switch that connects Tracks 1–8 to the North River tunnels.[71] This closure caused a cascading failure, delaying Amtrak and Long Island Railroad trains on the unaffected tracks.[70][72] Had the Gateway Program been built by then, the disruptions would have been lessened.[72]

Track switches west of the station

On April 14, a New Jersey Transit train became stuck in the North River tunnels, causing the station to grow crowded with waiting passengers. After an Amtrak police officer used a Taser on a man who was acting disruptively, rumors of gunshots sparked a stampede that injured 16 people.[73][74] Following the stampede, U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer called on Amtrak to centralize law enforcement response.[75]

As a result of these incidents, the Long Island Rail Road had proposed taking over Penn Station from Amtrak to improve maintenance,[76] and New Jersey has suggested withholding state payments to Amtrak.[70] Amtrak has discussed accelerating major maintenance work, even at the cost of further disruptions, to more quickly stabilize infrastructure and decrease more future incidents that could potentially cause even greater disruption.[70] On April 28, Amtrak announced that it would perform some track maintenance during the summer[75] over a period of one and a half months.[77] Five tracks were closed for repairs as part of the reconstruction work, severely reducing track capacity in a situation media outlets deemed "the summer of hell".[78][79] Many affected NJ Transit passengers were diverted to take the PATH instead.[80] Some Amtrak trains from the Empire Corridor were routed to Grand Central instead of Penn Station.[81] Regular service resumed on September 5, 2017.[82][83]

Amtrak made further improvements to Penn Station's trackage in summer 2018. As a result, some Empire Corridor trains were rerouted again to Grand Central.[84] The Lake Shore Limited and Cardinal to Chicago were truncated or rerouted because of this work.[85]

ClubAcela is a private lounge located on the Amtrak concourse (8th Avenue side of the station). Prior to December 2000 it was known as the Metropolitan Lounge. Guests are provided with comfortable seating, complimentary non-alcoholic beverages, newspapers, television sets and a conference room. Access to ClubAcela is restricted to the following passenger types:[87]

Amtrak Guest Rewards members with a valid Select Plus or Select Executive member card.

Amtrak passengers with a same-day ticket (departing) or ticket receipt (arriving) in First class or sleeping car accommodations.

ClubAcela Single-Day Pass holders. Same day business class passengers may purchase these for $25.

The Gateway Program is a proposed high-speed rail corridor to alleviate the bottleneck along the Northeast Corridor at the North River Tunnels, which runs under the Hudson River. If constructed, the project would add 25 cross-Hudson train slots during rush hours, convert parts of the James Farley Post Office into a rail station, and add a 7-track, 4-platform terminal annex to Penn Station.[89] Some previously planned improvements already underway have also been incorporated into the Gateway plan.[89][90]

The Gateway Program was unveiled in 2011, one year after the cancellation of the somewhat similar Access to the Region's Core (ARC) project, and was originally projected to cost $14.5 billion and take 14 years to build.[90] Construction of a "tunnel box" that would preserve the right-of-way on Manhattan's West Side began in September 2013, using $185 million in recovery and resilience funding awarded after Hurricane Sandy in 2012.[91] In 2015, Amtrak said that damage done to the existing trans-Hudson tunnels by Hurricane Sandy had made their replacement urgent.[92][93] That year, Amtrak reported that environmental and design work was underway, estimated the project's total cost at $20 billion, and said construction would start in 2019 or 2020 and last four to five years.[94] A draft environmental impact statement was released in July 2017.[95][96]

Funding for theGateway Program had been unclear for several years due to a lack of funding commitments from New Jersey officials and the federal government. In March 2018, up to $541 million for the project was provided in the Consolidated Appropriations Act.[97][98]

Resurgence of train ridership in the 21st century has pushed the current Pennsylvania Station structure to capacity, leading to several proposals to renovate or rebuild the station.

In May 2013, four architecture firms—SHoP Architects, SOM, H3 Hardy Collaboration Architecture, and Diller Scofidio + Renfro—submitted proposals for a new Penn Station. SHoP Architects recommended moving Madison Square Garden to the Morgan Postal Facility a few blocks southwest, as well as removing 2 Penn Plaza and redeveloping other towers, and an extension of the High Line to Penn Station.[99] Meanwhile, SOM proposed moving Madison Square Garden to the area just south of the James Farley Post Office, and redeveloping the area above Penn Station as a mixed-use development with commercial, residential, and recreational space.[99] H3 Hardy Collaboration Architecture wanted to move the arena to a new pier west of Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, four blocks west of the current station/arena. Then, according to H3's plan, four skyscrapers at each of the four corners of the new Penn Station superblock, with a roof garden on top of the station; the Farley Post Office would become an education center.[99] Finally, Diller Scofidio + Renfro proposed a mixed-use development on the site, with spas, theaters, a cascading park, a pool, and restaurants; Madison Square Garden would be moved two blocks west, next to the post office. DS+F also proposed high-tech features in the station, such as train arrival and departure boards on the floor, and applications that can help waiting passengers use their time until they board their trains.[99] Madison Square Garden rejected the allegations that it would be relocated, and called the plans "pie-in-the-sky".[99]

In 2013, the Regional Plan Association and Municipal Art Society formed the Alliance for a New Penn Station. Citing overcrowding and the limited capacity of the current station under Madison Square Garden, the Alliance began to advocate for limiting the extension of Madison Square Garden's operating permit to 10 years.[100] In June 2013, the New York City Council Committee on Land Use voted unanimously to give the Garden a ten-year permit, at the end of which period the owners will either have to relocate, or go back through the permission process.[101] On July 24, 2013, the New York City Council voted 47–1 to give the Garden a ten-year operating permit. City Council speaker Christine Quinn called the vote "the first step in finding a new home for Madison Square Garden and building a new Penn Station that is as great as New York and suitable for the 21st century."[102] In October 2014, following the 2014 MAS Summit in New York City, the Morgan facility was selected as the ideal area to which to move Madison Square Garden.[103][104]

In January 2016, New York governor Andrew Cuomo announced that requests for proposals would be solicited for the redevelopment of the station, which would be a public private partnership. Investors would be granted commercial rights to the station in exchange for paying building costs.[105][106]

Proposed designs throughout the development process, from 1999 (left), 2005 (middle), and 2007 (right)

In the early 1990s, U.S. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan began to champion a plan to rebuild a replica of the historic Penn Station, in which he had shined shoes during the Great Depression.[107] He proposed building it in the Farley Post Office building, which occupies the block across Eighth Avenue from the current Penn Station and was designed by McKim, Mead & White, the same architectural firm that designed the original station.[108] In 1999 Senator Charles Schumer sponsored a bill to formally name the yet-to-be-constructed facility "Daniel Patrick Moynihan Station" in his honor. The bill did not pass Congress,[109] but would subsequently result in the sale of the Farley Post Office building in 2006 to New York State in the hope that Moynihan's vision would be realized.[110]

Initial design proposals were laid out by David Childs of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill in 2001.[111] Designs saw several iterations by multiple architectural firms, and Amtrak withdrew from the plan until 2012.[112][113][114][115][116] Support also grew for "Plan B," an expansion of the project's scope, under which Madison Square Garden would have been moved to the west flank of the Farley Building, allowing Vornado Realty to construct an office complex on the current Garden site.[117] By 2009, the Garden's owner Cablevision had decided not to move Madison Square Garden, but to renovate its current location instead,[118] and Amtrak had returned as a potential tenant.[119]

In 2010, the fully designed elements of the plan were broken off into a $267 million Phase 1. Funded by $83.4 million of federal stimulus money that became available in February, plus other funds, the phase adds two entrances to the existing Penn Station platforms through the Farley Building on Eighth Avenue.[120] Ground was broken on October 18, 2010,[121][122][123] and the extended West End Concourse opened in the eastern part of the former post office in June 2017.[124]

Phase 2 will consist of the new train hall in the fully renovated Farley Building. At the time it was first proposed, it was expected to cost up to $1.5 billion.[125] A proposed name for a station that integrates the existing Penn and the post office building is Empire Station.[105] In September 2016, Governor Andrew Cuomo outlined the details of a proposal that would speed up the construction of Phase 2 of the renovated Moynihan Station. The new hall would be 1 acre (0.40 ha) and be underneath a large glass skylight.[126] The Farley Post Office would be divided so that there would be some space for a shared Amtrak/LIRR train hall and a retail area, as well as space for the post office. Phase 2, which was now expected to cost $1.6 billion, was to be built by Skanska AB, and the retail space would be developed by Related Companies and Vornado Realty; all three companies were supposed to sign a contract by 2017.[126] The name of the project was subsequently changed to Moynihan Train Hall.[9][127]

In August 2017, ground was broken on the now-$1.6 billion project.[128] Although the LIRR and Amtrak will move to the new train hall, NJ Transit will keep using its current platforms because there is no space to extend the NJ Transit platforms westward.[129] If the Gateway Program is built, NJ Transit would instead move to the southern annex that would be built as part of the project.[89] As part of Moynihan Phase 2, a new direct entrance from 33rd Street and Seventh Avenue to the LIRR concourse and subway platforms would be built.[130] 33rd Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues would be permanently closed to vehicular traffic and converted into a pedestrian plaza. The LIRR concourse would be nearly doubled in width, from 30 to 57 feet (9.1 to 17.4 m), and the ceilings would be raised to a minimum height of 18 feet (5.5 m). The expected completion date for these improvements is 2022, though the Moynihan Train Hall and the Seventh Avenue entrance would be opened by 2021.[131][132] In total, seven new entrances to Penn Station would be built as part of the Moynihan Hall project.[131]

^Gilbert, Gilbert H.; Wightman, Lucius I.; Saunders, William L. (1912). "The East River Tunnels of the Pennsylvania Railroad". The Subways and Tunnels of New York: Methods and Costs, with an Appendix on Tunneling Machinery and Methods and Tables of Engineering Data. New York: John Wiley & Sons. p. 111. Retrieved October 11, 2009.